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What's hidden beneath Antarctica's eternal ice? Extraordinary 'map' revealed

2026-01-29 22:16:44Lifestyle SHKRUAR NGA REDAKSIA VOX
What's hidden beneath Antarctica's eternal ice? Extraordinary
Mysteries of the Frozen Continent: The Map That's Changing Everything We Knew About the "Underworld"

Beneath Antarctica lies a whole hidden world. A new study and map of Antarctica sheds light on the unknown, revealing hills, mountains, valleys and canyons buried under 4 km of glacial ice.

Until now, humanity probably knew more about the surface of the planet Mars than what lay beneath the ice of the South Pole. An international team of scientists, based on high-resolution satellite images, including physical analyses of glacier movement, has been able to map the landscape beneath Antarctica.

This method has revealed thousands of previously unseen hills and ridges, ranging in width from 2 to 30 km. Among the most impressive discoveries is a giant subglacial channel, about 400 km long and 6 km wide, that runs through the Maud Basin.

What's hidden beneath Antarctica's eternal ice? Extraordinary

Also, these detailed analyses, the first ever conducted, are important not only for understanding what lies beneath the endless whiteness, but also because the landforms beneath the glacier directly affect how ice moves and how Antarctica may respond to rising temperatures.

Mountain peaks can act as brakes on the movement of ice and its breakaway, while deep valley areas can favor the sliding of glacial masses towards the sea.

The Antarctic Ice Sheet represents the largest mass of ice on Earth and contains about 70 percent of the planet's fresh water. Its average thickness is estimated to be about 2.1 kilometers, while in some areas it reaches up to about 4.8 kilometers. However, the continent has not always been covered in ice.

Its subglacial features were initially shaped before Antarctica was covered by ice more than 34 million years ago and were further transformed by the dynamic movements of the ice sheet. In early geological times, Antarctica was connected to South America, before the separation of the continents occurred as a result of the movement of tectonic plates.

What's hidden beneath Antarctica's eternal ice? Extraordinary

The new map contrasts sharply with previous knowledge, as the surface of Mars was previously better mapped than the terrain beneath Antarctica's ice. Traditionally, mapping of this landscape has been done using radar mounted on aircraft or towed by vehicles moving over snow, but these measurements have often left large gaps in the data, Reuters writes.

According to the study's lead author, glaciologist Helen Ockenden, these spaces can range from a few kilometers to tens or even hundreds of kilometers. The new method, she says, innovatively combines the mathematics of ice flow with satellite observations of the surface, enabling the reconstruction of the subglacial landscape across the continent, including areas that had not previously been measured.

Researchers hope that this map will serve as an important basis for improving climate models and for predictions of future sea level rise, including assessments published by the UN Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change.

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